Shellawax on irregular work?

[OrcaSoul]

I have some Sycamore & Walnut bowls that were turned green and have warped rather nicely - but I have no finish on them and would like to use something with a luster to bring out the colors. Could I use Shellawax, then buff on a wheel - or could I use a heat gun to activate the polish & then wipe hard with a cloth?

My other option would be a wipe on product like Waterlox.

[rsser]

Hi OS, and welcome.

I'm not a regular shellawax user so FWIW ... it's a friction polish so your buff would need to be hard. Or you could try hand buffing. (Any case, Shellawax Cream is for bowls ... is this what you have?).

A heat gun would just set the polish off quicker and reduce your buffing time.

Alternative might be a white shellac or nitrocellulose sealer followed by paste wax. I've used the latter combo on green bowls as soon as they're finished and later added another coat of wax if needed.

Let us know how you go.

Oh, and the forum has an appetite for pics!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Use Shellawax Cream, not Shellawax.

The difference? Shellawax is designed to be set/buffed on on the lathe and if a section "goes off" before you get to it, well... tough.

S/Cream, on the other hand, can be applied over larger areas (although still best used on a smallish area at a time) and allowed to dry before buffing with a rag or wheel, and still give good results.

For more accurate info, read this.

[OrcaSoul]

Thanks for the advice - I'll check out the white shellac, but suspect I'll go with the Waterlox. I've used it before with good results but don't get quite the fine sheen that the shellawax has given me...I've just discovered it but have done over 20 bowls with very consistent results. It will be my finish of choice - can you buy it in a gallon size?

Pictures, eh? Well, I just today did an Ash bowl (7") that I scorched on the outside, then lightly sanded the burn area to raise the white in random places. Adding the EE & shellawax over that gave it a stunning look. It really does look like two kinds of wood. I showed this to the turner who taught me the basics, he said "You are getting just too good at this!"...always nice to get the ego stroked by an expert.



And here's the bottom:



Now I want to find a really big piece of Ash - around 16" - and try it on that!

[OrcaSoul]

Skew, thanks for the hint - I use the cream, not the liquid. I'll try it on a small piece & see how it works.

[rsser]

yep, Ash is good for staining, scorching, texturing etc.

This one is stained on the inside, scorched, wire-brushed and shellacked on the outside. 11" wide.

Scorching cracked it in places ... so now it's a rustic style

[OrcaSoul]

Lovely piece, the cracking is in just the right place - gives it that aged look of hard times and rugged pride...

I suppose I should figure out how to use thumbs here...and usually I'm all thumbs.

[rsser]

Thanks OS. btw, forgot to mention, shellac also on the inside. The takeup of stain surprised me ... deeper in the summer growth rings - maybe they're more porous.

'Ash' covers a multitude of sins. AFAIK this is Euro Ash of some kind ... Fraxinus excelsior? Yours will be a different species I expect.

An exotic, a lot of it was planted here in parks and private gardens. Often easy to find dumped in sections outside folks' homes when they had to cut one down for an extension. (Also good for tool handles).